Bolognese Sauce with Penne Regatta

The title sounds fancy doesn't it?

What it actually translates to is spaghetti sauce with a different kind of noodle. In this case, being out of spaghetti noodles, I used some penne regatta instead (sort of like muscacholi noodles, only smaller. They were on sale at Kroger recently, so I bought several boxes.

I started by thawing some ground beef, and then lightly browning 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic in a large sauce pot. I then added one optional teaspoon of fennel seed. I like the flavor it gives.

Here's a tip for you...when you add seeds and spices, add them at the start of the cooking process (especially whole seeds). When you're adding herbs, you add them towards the end.

Add the ground beef, and brown that. If there is excess grease when you're done, pour it off before proceeding.

Stir in 2T of MSG-Free Onion Soup Mix or Worchestershire sauce. I suppose these are optional, but they really bring out the flavor. I buy the onion soup mix in bulk. It's also available from www.urbanhomemaker.com

Pour in some crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce (I average 3 small cans or two larger cans or jars of home canned sauce). Crushed tomatoes make it thicker and chunkier, so I use those more often.

season with: fresh basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and Marjoram.

I also added a spoonful of finely minced pickled capers. Capers are the flower bud from an herb that grows in the Mediterranean, pickled and put in jars. You can buy it in many stores. I pull out a small spoonful, and I finely mince them with my chef's knife.




I let my sauce simmer with a bay leaf in it for about 30 minutes.

In the meanwhile, i allow my water to come to a boil for the pasta, and I prepared it according to package directions.

I also made a luscious country loaf of herbed bread to go with our meal, and served the Penne Regatta Bolognese garnished with fresh basil, fresh Parmesan cheese, and herbed bread.